3D Trajectory Analysis for Tomographic Field Free Line Magnetic Particle Imaging

Abstract

In magnetic particle imaging (MPI), spatial mapping of the magnetic nanoparticles is achieved by scanning the field-free region (FFR) throughout the field of view (FOV). The scanning trajectory of the FFR has an impact on image quality and scan time, and also is subject to limitations such as hardware requirements and patient safety. Here, we analyzed 3D imaging performance of an open-sided MPI system using simulations for various trajectories and SNR values. A selection field of 0.35 T m?1 gradient with an FFL was created and scanned tomographically. For
low SNR scenarios, the best imaging results were achieved at the expense of a longer scan time when 3D FOV was densely scanned layer by layer. For more sparse trajectories, the effect of the coherence between the scan angles became prominent with the increasing noise level. Image quality can be improved by assigning non-coherent FFL angles to the consequent layers while taking hardware limitations into account.